One of the best things about the month of October is that horror can be found everywhere, from both the big screen and small. There’s a long history of television shows getting into the spirit of Halloween, with holiday and horror-centric episodes. Though there may be no shortage in horror TV series these days, the chills and thrills delivered by Halloween themed episodes likely played a vital role in shaping horror on the small screen into what it is today. While October is full of horror movie watch lists, here are the scariest TV episodes that prove sometimes television offers the biggest scares worth binging this Halloween:
“The Perils of Punky” – Punky Brewster (air date:10/20/1985)
This two-part Halloween episode of ‘80s phenom Punky Brewster left traumatic scars on the minds of unsuspecting children everywhere. Normally a family-friendly sitcom about a very spunky orphan, Punky, and her dog, this episode begins like any other standard episode with Punky and her pals on a camping trip. Naturally, they begin to tell each other scary stories around the campfire, and before long Punky is on a quest to vanquish the evil that lurks in a cavern as her friends begin to disappear. Giant spiders and dancing skeletons would be enough to terrorize impressionable young minds, right? Cue the moment Punky begs the entity to give her back her friends, and the horrific face of her friend Alan, now monstrous, pops up in the wall to frighten her. Pure. Nightmare. Fuel.
“The Haunted Mask” – Goosebumps (air date: 10/27/1995)
Another beloved two-part Halloween special that left a lasting impression during youth, this Goosebumps episode remains one of the most popular. It also happens to be one of the scariest. A cautionary tale of acceptance, the real terror lies with that grotesque mask. Carly Beth’s panic at the mask becoming part of her skin, therefore unable to remove it, is palpable. It’s the type of thing that makes one swear off wearing masks on Halloween for life.
“The Tale of the Dead Man’s Float” – Are You Afraid of the Dark? (air date: 10/7/1995)
Horror has long-since taught us to be afraid of the ocean, but this episode also taught us to fear the swimming pool. The episode opens in 1951, where a boy smells something strange in the water at a public pool before being pulled under to his death. Cut to forty years later, where science fanatic Zeke trades tutoring for swim lessons with his crush. Naturally, he picks the same pool from the episode’s opening, now a hidden secret locked away behind lockers. Zeke discovers the source of that smell; a gnarly corpse that loves to drown swimmers. This episode is quick and suspenseful, but it’s amazing creature effects that make this episode stand out above the rest.
“The House that Bled to Death” – Hammer House of Horror (air date: 10/11/1980)
This Hammer Films anthology series inexplicably only had one season, and, as this creepy episode indicates, it should have had much more. The cold open sets up the haunting atmosphere right off the bat, with an elder couple quietly enjoying tea before the husband brutally murders his wife with a knife. A new family moves into the home and quickly find themselves dealing with tell-tale signs of hauntings: strange noises, bloody handprints, a terrible pet death, and the worst children’s birthday party in horror history. It’s this moment that makes the episode memorable, with gallons of blood spilling out from burst pipes onto children during what’s supposed to be a celebration. That alone would be enough, but the episode delivers one last scare in the form of an insane twist.
“Only Skin Deep” – Tales from the Crypt (air date: 10/31/1994)
Directed by William Malone (House on Haunted Hill), this Halloween themed episode is a bright spot in season sixth’s overall weak season. Perhaps inspiring future Masters of Horror episode Jenifer, this episode sees a real jerk of a human crashing his ex’s Halloween party, where he meets a mysterious masked woman that offers him a night he won’t ever forget. Carl is easily one of the series’ most detestable characters; the episode quickly establishes his history with violence and domestic disturbance. His obsession with masked woman Molly leads to graphic sex, making for an uncomfortable watch considering how repulsive he is. Which makes the gruesome twist so satisfying. What’s beneath Molly’s mask is downright gory, and Carl’s fate is a chilling dose of karma.
“Nightcrawlers” – The Twilight Zone (air date: 10/18/1985)
One of the best segments in The Twilight Zone’s revival series was based on a short story by Robert R. McCammon and directed by the prolific William Friedkin. A dark tale about the lasting horrors of the Vietnam War, Nightcrawlers features an AWOL soldier with an uncanny ability to manifest his thoughts in a small-town diner after a massacre at a nearby motel. The manifestations begin small enough, with cold beers and steaks appearing just by wishing for it. Soon, though, the diner becomes a war zone of phantom soldiers laying siege. An extremely dark, violent episode with memorably tense performances, Nightcrawlers remains one of the best segments in the revival.
“Everybody Loves a Clown” -Supernatural (air date: 10/5/2006)
When the series is about two brothers hunting down ghosts, monsters, and demons, what makes this episode so special? Clowns. Clowns are scary. The clown in this episode is actually a demon in disguise; it takes on the form of a clown to trick children into bringing it home with them so it can devour their parents. By day, it’s a knife thrower at a carnival. Nothing creepy about that, right? Wrong. The cold open that sees the clown following a little girl and her family home is one of the creepiest moments in television.
“Incident on and Off a Mountain Road” – Masters of Horror (air date: 10/28/2005)
The premiere episode of Masters of Horror packed a huge punch and fitting that the horror series began so close to Halloween. Directed by Don Coscarelli, and featuring a fun performance by Angus Scrimm, this episode had it all: gore, violence, trigger warnings, eye trauma, and a super fun twist. Admittedly, I’m a sucker for stories where the predator becomes the prey, as well as Coscarelli’s brand of humor. Bree Turner makes for a fine final girl, but it’s Ethan Embry’s turn as the violent husband that’s scariest of all.
“Night of Desirable Objects” -Fringe (air date: 9/24/2009)
So, the original air date of this underrated sci-fi show aired late September, not October. It’s close enough. Besides, from a setting and tonal standpoint, it’s very Halloween-like in aesthetic. This monster of the week type episode features a small Pennsylvanian town like a certain X-Files episode, a creaky old house, one super tense scene in a field with a scarecrow (seriously, horror needs more scarecrows), and a very creepy underground dwelling creature that feeds on people. Genetically modifying babies is bad, people. An eerie and suspenseful episode that comes close to invoking the suspenseful episodes of the X-Files, Night of Desirable Objects is perfect for Halloween.
“Home” – The X-Files (air date: 10/11/1996)
The first episode of The X-Files to receive a viewer discretion warning for a reason, it was banned from re-airing on Fox. The producers called it tasteless. I call it the scariest episode of television. Set in the small town of Home, Pennsylvania (sounds familiar), the duo of Mulder and Scully find themselves contending with a clan of violent, homicidal inbreds. It’s the graphic discussion of incest that disturbed the network and producers, but it’s the tense home invasion aspect and the disfigured family that makes this episode so scary. That moment where the agents find quadruple amputee Mrs. Peacock under the bed? Chilling. As scary as this episode is, perhaps scariest of all is that part of the basis for the story came from Charlie Chaplin’s autobiography- in which locals from a small Welsh town invited him to meet a deformed man living in a kitchen cupboard.
